Category Archives: MOT

The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) has announced Incredible India roadshows in the cities of Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok to be organised in December 2019. In a statement, the Overseas Marketing Division of MOT said that the roadshow in Singapore will take place on December 9, while in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, the roadshow will take place on December 10 and December 12 respectively. The registrations for this last series of roadshows in the current calender year has already opened and notified to all the associations. The Ministry has asked the interested people to notify about their participation latest by November 15.

G Kamala Vardhana Rao, IAS, Kerala Cadre has joined as the Chairman and Managing Director (C&MD) of India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC). Before assuming the office at ITDC, Rao was serving as the Principal Secretary, Government of Kerala. He was also the Secretary of Kerala Tourism from 2014-15. In his career spanning almost three decades, Rao has served multiple positions including Chairman of Indian Tobacco Board, Director of Fisheries Department, Director, Department of Tourism & Culture, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Managing Director of SC /ST Corporation in Andhra Pradesh, the Revenue Secretary of Kerala and the District Collector, Kollam, Kerala.

Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, informed that the theme of the Indian pavilion which will be promoted by the Ministry at WTM London would be, ‘Find the Incredible You’, inspired by the award-winning campaign of the ministry released globally a few months ago. The campaign focusses on digital and social media and the promotion of niche tourism products of the country. It focuses on transformative experiences, brought alive through unique storytelling in the format of autobiographies of travellers, with the tagline ‘Find the Incredible You’. “Against the earlier theme of just Incredible India, this time the theme has moved to ‘Find the Incredible You’. This essentially is the philosophy of India. There are just so many things about India, which we feel that tourists from all over the world should be coming and discovering about themselves, weather it could be realm of Yoga or wellness or adventure or heritage or just disappearing into thousand year old history that our country is able to showcase. We are also celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi this year. This is going to be one significant part of the Indian pavilion at WTM London. Other thing, which we are going to promote is the new destinations such as the Statue of Unity situated in Gujarat, which is also the tallest statue in the world. There are other tourism destinations developing around the statue, which would also remain as one significant theme of our pavilion,” Brar explained. Apart from the different stakeholders of the industry, including state governments, wellness organisations, tour operators and hotels are also participating in WTM London along with the Ministry of Tourism, Government …

Ministry of Tourism with Indian Institute of Travel & Tourism Management has organised an Adventure Tourism Training Courses in Trekking. Over 30 local youth enrolled in the first batch which started on 24 September 2019. Approximately 90 local youth will be trained in three batches. The 10-day training course trained local youth in various aspects of mountain trekking and also gives them hands on experience.

Ministry of Tourism has released 11 itineraries, that will trace the life of Mahatma Gandhi, under the ‘Gandhi Gramin Circuit’, announced Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary, Tourism. Tour operators are going to promote the circuit throughout the year to mark Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th Birth Anniversary celebrations. All these locations are directly connected with Mahatma Gandhi. Not only his birthplace, Porbandar, Gujarat, but all the locations he worked, lived and connected with people throughout his life. These locations include Mani Bhavan in Mumbai, Aga Khan Palace in Pune, Champaran in Bihar, National Gandhi Museum in New Delhi, Birla House (Where Gandhi was assassinated), Rajghat (Memorial dedicated to Gandhi) and certain places in Kolkata as well, where he led his movements during the freedom struggle of the country. Crafting some diverse tours and packages to sensitise the people about Gandhi, the itineraries include Shimla as well, where Gandhi spent a significant amount of time in his life.

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism and Culture, has announced that single-use plastic will not be allowed within ASI protected monuments and within 100 m of these monuments. He made the announcement at the launch of Paryatan Parv 2019, which was inaugurated on October 2, 2019 at Rajpath lawns, by Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change and Information & Broadcasting and Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Minister of Steel. Expressing his happiness that the inauguration of the Paryatan Parv is coinciding with the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Patel said, “In line with Mahatma Gandhi’s thoughts regarding sustainable and clean tourism, efforts are being made to phase out single use plastics in various organisations of ASI and MOT. Single Use Plastics will no longer be permitted within ASI protected Monuments and within 100 m of these Monuments.” Paryatan Parv is being held in Delhi till October 6 and across the country till October 13, 2019.

Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu presented the National Tourism Awards 2017-18 on World Tourism Day in New Delhi. A total of 76 Awards under various categories were presented. The Union Minister of State for Tourism & Culture (IC) Prahlad Singh Patel;Secretary-General of United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili; Tourism Minister of Paraguay, Sofia Montiel De Afara; Tourism Secretary Yogendra Tripathi; DG Tourism, Meenakshi Sharma, senior officers of Ministry of tourism and 82 international delegates were  among those present on the occasion.

Foreign Tourist Arrivals in August 2019 were 7,98,587 as compared to 7,86,003 in August 2018, registering a growth of 1.6%, revealed latest statistics released by Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. FTAs during the period January-August 2019 were 68,82,940 as compared to 67,43,819 in January- August 2018 registering a growth of 2.1%.

At the occasion of the second edition of the Tamil Nadu Travel Mart and Medical Value Travel Mart 2019, Apurva Varma, Additional Chief Secretary to Government, Tourism, Culture and Religious Endowments Dept , Government of Tamil Nadu, says, “295 sites have been identified for the development under Tamil Nadu Integrated Tourism Promotion Programme.” He also shares that the Tamil Nadu Government has kept Rs 100 crore aside for the development of tourism in the state.”

In a grand opening ceremony, the second edition of the Tamil Nadu Travel Mart and Medical Value Travel Mart 2019 was inaugurated at the Chennai Trade Centre in Chennai. The three-day exhibition, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with Tamil Nadu Travel Mart Society will showcase the potential of Tamil Nadu’s tourism on a global platform. The inauguration was followed by an array of cultural programs and networking dinners organised for all the delegates. TTM 2019 will witness more than 300 exhibitors showcasing tourism business opportunities in the state along with 1000 domestic and international buyers from 54 countries. Apart from TTM, the Medical Value Travel Mart this year will reiterate the importance of Tamil Nadu in the medical value travel sector. Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary, Union Tourism Ministry, said the government had recognised the potential of tourism and approved 77 projects under Swadesh Darshan and 24 under Prasad in Tamil Nadu.